


North Mammon

by dralexreid



Series: Dr Piper Bishop [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27040381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dralexreid/pseuds/dralexreid
Summary: After a man abducts three teenage girls and locks them in a cellar, he tells them that only two of them will live, and they must choose which one will die. The BAU takes the case with Dr Bishop on a consultancy when the mother of one of the girls travels to Quantico to ask them to intercede with the FBI on the girls' behalf.
Relationships: Dr Spencer Reid/Dr Piper Bishop
Series: Dr Piper Bishop [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972852
Kudos: 41





	North Mammon

Piper woke up at 5, not used to the absence of birds chirping. DC was loud and her apartment wasn’t great, but she had a place to work, eat and sleep. The voice in her head hadn’t said anything yet about her new position. She went into the shower and made her tea. As she sat, sipping on tea on the fire escape, she wondered what new horror she’d have to face today.

A package was waiting for her before she moved in. She’d turned the envelope over, peeled it open and pulled out a contract and plastic badge. She reread Gideon’s note inside the envelope. His number, followed by her BAU classes, the address for the office and finally a quote:

> Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars and see yourself running with them.

“Marcus Aurelius.” She tucked the note into her pocket, the flimsy badge into her bag. She checked herself in her mirror, straightening the white blouse and tugging the blue blazer, before grabbing her things and leaving. Heels would’ve looked great, but she couldn’t walk for very long in them. Her mind flashed back to her first few days teaching back at Brown. After an hour of standing in heels, she’d taken them off, sat on her desk and continued teaching barefoot. After the first few snickers, she’d gotten from the back of the room and incorporated it as an example in her class. She smiled at that memory. She loved teaching, no dispute on that, but she’d left for something more meaningful. She wasn’t quite sure what, she merely hoped the BAU would give her that. After being skimped on by an elementary school in Texas and now by the FBI, Lord knew that Columbia wouldn't offer her a job now.

She walked through the glass doors of the Quantico office, holding her empty thermos and a slightly heavy box. She handed her badge to the security staff and walked through after being cleared, only to bump into Agent Morgan.

“Hey, Piper, right?” Morgan furrowed his brows as she chuckled.

“You have a hard time remembering names?”

“I only remember the names as pretty as yours.” She laughed at that.

“By the way, I’d like to meet that tech analyst of yours. Baby girl, was it?” Piper earned another chuckle at that question.

“I’ll introduce you,” he said, walking out the elevator. He stopped and turned to look at Piper, “if you tell me what you’re doing here.” Piper followed Derek to Garcia’s Batcave. “She’s in there,” he said, smiling. “So?”

Piper looked at him briefly. “You’re a profiler right?” She turned the knob to the door and floated in. “Figure it out.” She smiled at Derek and closed the door behind her.

 _Woah_.Looking around, Piper just saw figurines and computer screens. She glanced at her watch, 7 30 am. _Might as well get comfortable._

* * *

JJ glanced back at her watch as she rushed to the elevators. Her aunt had called her about a Mrs Homefeldt that would be arriving. Some kind of emergency. A lady wearing a pale turtleneck and overcoat walked up to her, a visitor’s badge pinned to her breast.

“Mrs Homefeldt? Hi. I’m Agent Jareau.”

“Thank you for seeing me.” The woman was flustered, to say the least.

“My aunt said it was an emergency.”

“Yeah. She said to give this to you.” The brunette pulled a photo of three young women in sports uniforms. JJ recognised herself in the middle of the photo.

“I don’t understand.”

“My daughter Polly played soccer too, for North Mammon. The varsity team. She got a scholarship to Penn State.”

“Forgive me, ma'am. My aunt didn’t really explain to me the nature of this emergency.”

“No one is looking for them. Here,” she handed her another photo, tears welling in her eyes.

“My daughter and her two friends, they’ve been missing for 5 days, and I know someone took them, but no one will believe me.”

“Missing?”

* * *

Piper was sitting cross-legged in Garcia’s den. The quirky woman walked in, almost dropping her file and her smile at the sight of the woman playing with a Rubix cube.

"I always hated Rubix cubes, still do. I mean, it's not really a test of anything, is it? Now, the New York Times crossword? That's a different story," she grumbled. She glanced up at the woman in front of her. “Bishop.” She held out her hand. “Piper. Dr.” Garcia took it, her mouth still open. It took a minute for her to gather her thoughts.

“Um, Garcia. Penelope. Not a doctor.” She shook her head.

“I wanted to meet the BAU’s resident hacker.”

“I... um…I didn’t know there was a new member.”

“Oh, I’m not.” Piper uncrossed her legs, putting the cube aside. “I’m just a consultant.” She glanced around. "You've got a cool setup."

“Thanks. So why are you here?”

“I kinda wanted to meet the guy in the chair. You know, like in movies and stuff. Plus, I couldn't take off without meeting the last member of the family.” She paused. “You guys are basically a family, right?” Garcia chuckled. “Okay let me guess. Gideon’s the dad, I get the older brother vibe from Morgan. Reid’s the baby and JJ’s definitely a mother hen. How’d I do?”

“5 for 5 Doctor, very well done,” Penelope clapped as she took her seat.

“Anyway, I wanted to let you know that the next…” she checked her watch, “15 minutes are for you to ask anything you want.”

“Like a rapid-fire?” Garcia smiled.

“Sure.” Once Garcia got settled down, she stared at Piper intensely.

“Where are you from?”

“San Francisco.”

“Why were you in Texas?”

“Scenery?”

“Siblings?”

“2. Lucy and Daniel.”

“Parents?”

“One passed away a few years ago. The other we cut ties to.”

“How come?” Piper hesitated. “It’s okay, you don’t have to-”

“No, it’s fine. He just wasn’t the greatest dad.” She smiled wryly.

“Where do you live?”

“Nice enough apartment about an hour away?” She wasn’t quite sure where this was going.

“Are you free this weekend?”

“If we’re not here, then sure.”

“Housewarming party, Sunday, at 7 pm.” Piper smiled warmly at the bright blonde agent.

* * *

Hotch looked over the file JJ had handed the group. He wasn’t quite sure how to phrase his next comment.

“Well, as much as we might want to take this case, we have to be invited by local authorities. I’m sure that this friend of your aunt is very concerned, but it just doesn’t work that way.” Reid looked over at JJ, as did Morgan and Garcia.

“I called the police chief,” JJ insisted, “He faxed over an official request for our assistance.”

As she spoke, Gideon moved over to the coffee machine behind them.

“This is Brooke Chambers. Her father, Peter, a widower, left her home alone for the weekend. Polly Homefeldt and Kelly Seymour were sleeping over Saturday night. At 9:35 P. M. During the town’s pep rally for the high school football team, both Kelly and Polly called home.”

A young girl’s voice rang through the room.

> It’s me. I know this is last minute, but please don’t be angry. Brooke, Kelly and I are going to take off on a road trip for a few days, sort of our last adventure before graduation. We’ll be back Friday night. Love you. Bye.

"Kelly Seymour left this message on her parents’ machine 44 seconds later."

> It’s me. I know this is last minute, but please don’t be angry. Brooke, Polly, and I are going to take off on a road trip for a few days, sort of our last adventure before graduation. We’ll be back Friday night. Love you, bye.

“Exactly the same,” Spencer noted softly.

“Both calls made were made from Brooke’s cell, which has since been turned off,” the blonde agent added.

“And there’s been no activity on their cell phones or ATM cards since Saturday.” Garcia continued.

“Which is strange considering the first thing you do before a road trip is to grab food. Being teenagers, I can’t believe they’d bring packed food given the chance,” Piper remarked.

“It does sound like they were reading from a script,” Hotch asserted.

“And obviously, since the phone’s turned off,” Garcia added. “I can’t use it to locate the girls, but I have an open trap on the number in case it gets turned back on.”

“Okay, guys, guys, not for nothing. I remember my senior year in high school. Isn’t it possible these girls just took off on a road trip?” Morgan proposed. Piper was about to answer just before JJ vehemently shut the question down.

“No. Absolutely not.” The small group turned. “Polly accepted an athletic scholarship to Penn State,” she explained. “I was a high school athlete, just like these girls. I was these girls. They don’t smoke, they don’t do drugs, they don’t drink during the season, and they do not jeopardise a full-ride scholarship by cutting school and missing practice.”

Morgan had to word his next statement very carefully. “I hear you JJ. But it has been five days. There’s a chance these girls…” He paused, looking at JJ’s unreadable expression. “There’s a chance we may not find them.”

“I don’t think so,” Gideon muttered. Piper took a sip from her coffee.

“The phone messages,” Reid remembered. “If they were reading from a script, they said, ‘I’ll see you next Friday’, not two days, not two weeks, Friday.”

“Why be that specific?” Piper wondered, leaning back in her chair and settling the coffee on the table. “What’s so special about Friday?”

“For now, my guess is we have to find them by Friday,” the senior agent suggested.

“So, are we taking this case?” JJ asked. Gideon and Hotch looked at each other like their thoughts bled into each other through their eyes. Gideon nodded imperceptibly.

“Wheels up in 30 minutes.”

JJ turned to the window of the conference room while they all packed up, getting ready for the flight to Pennsylvania. She nodded subtly to the woman sitting outside in the pale turtleneck.

* * *

Morgan rolled the sleeves of his maroon shirt and introduced Reid, Bishop and Gideon to the sergeant outside the picturesque house.

“Sergeant Sykes, Tom, if you will.” He shook hands with Derek. “Hope we haven’t brought you folks out here for nothing.”

“You don’t believe the girls are missing?” Derek asked

“It’s not really the kind of thing that happens around here, you know?”

“You’d be surprised to know how many times we hear that,” Gideon shot a smile at the young sergeant.

“Still, I’ve been through the house myself and nothing looks out of place at all.”

“You talk to the father yet?”

“Haven’t located him.”

“Is that unusual?”

“Chambers is a lawyer. He’s always out of town on business.”

Piper wasn’t paying close attention to the conversation. Her eyes glanced over to the massive banner for the state championships.

“A lot of people watch the game?” She turned back to him. “November 3rd, that’s tomorrow.”

“'Course, state championship football game. North Mammon is finally back in it.” He grinned at the thought of it.

Morgan seemed disinterested. Switching the conversation, he asked the sergeant to show them the house.

* * *

Hotch and JJ drove in the black SUV, in complete silence. She crossed her arms and looked out the window. As the car stopped, JJ stepped out of the vehicle, heading towards the police chief.

“Chief Yates, Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone. This is Agent Hotchner.”

“Hi,” he shook the man’s hand amicably, “Jeff Yates. Hi, Judy, why don’t you go on inside and make yourself comfortable. We’ll be in in a minute.” The brunette shuffled past the agents and the chief.

“Chief Yates, there’s not much of a case file yet,” Hotch notified him.

“Listen, I can’t get anyone to agree the girls are actually missing.”

“Mrs Homefeldt certainly believes it,” JJ intervened.

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t put too much stock in what Judy Homefeldt thinks.”

“Why is that?”

“She’s got a history of mental problems.”

“What kind of history?”

“Depression. Just heard she’s even on medication.”

“Didn’t she raise Polly on her own after her husband abandoned her, what, 12 years ago?”

“That’s right.”

“If you were in her place, don’t you think you’d be a little depressed?”

“Point taken.”

“Chief, if you’re not sure the girls are missing,” Hotch interjected, “why would you request our help?”

“Listen, something happened. I’m just not sure what and if it’s bad, I’ll take all the help I can get. Plus, your Agent Jareau can be pretty convincing.”

“Are the parents inside?”

“Well, Kelly’s parents are in there. We still haven’t been able to track down Brooke’s father, Pete. He’s… well, he travels a lot.” The chief scratched the back of his neck. “Listen, these people are my friends, okay? Let me tell you… they’re my neighbours, good people. I don’t want anybody assuming that they’re involved.”

“We just got here, we’re not assuming anything. Go ahead.”

* * *

The 3 agents, Bishop and Sergeant Sykes examined Brooke’s bedroom. Piper observed the glittering trophies on Brooke’s wall, while Gideon stared at a photo. Reid was listening to Morgan while twisting a keychain in his hands.

“You were right, sergeant. No forced entry, no sign of struggle. If someone did attack these girls, they chose to comply pretty fast.”

“If?” the sergeant asked.

“There were only two ways to immediately get compliance without the use of force, that’s either the threat of force or previously established trust,” Reid explained.

“Judging from the bedroom, I’d say they were all pretty close. If it was a threat of force, it’d be easier for the unsub to pick them off individually.” Piper turned to face the boys. “Plus, teenage girls can sense trouble pretty easily. It’s sort of instinct.”

“Whoever it was, it took a lot of planning. Detailed information about the girls. When Brooke’s father was gone when the other parents were out.” Morgan walked over to the sergeant.

“How do you mean?”

“He knew they’d have to leave messages. With that script, he couldn’t have talked to the parents directly. Close friend or stalker.”

"They might be able to recognise his voice if they already knew him,” Piper added to Reid’s elaboration.

“The folks here look after each other. There’s no way an outsider stalked these girls without being noticed.” Tom stated, more for his benefit than theirs.

“We have to assume the people who abducted these girls were members of the community. Would have needed a spot to watch her from,” Gideon whispered. 

Gideon was wandering all over the room. Piper was trying to get a read of him, but his words seemed as fragmented as his thoughts. After surveying the room once more, Gideon walked out. Piper shrugged at Spencer and followed.

* * *

“Should we expect a ransom demand?” Kelly’s mother was trying hard not to cry.

“Kidnappers who want money contact the families to prove they have possession of the victim,” Hotch told her gently, “They don’t call to conceal it.”

“Kidnappers. Are we sure they just haven’t run off?” The father asked, rather nonchalantly.

“It’s pretty unusual the girls left identical messages. Why would Kelly run off?”

“Here’s the thing, this is a football town. Kelly plays girl’s soccer. Our son is on the football team. This week, football is all anyone cares about. That didn’t always sit right with Kelly,” he explained.

“Should it, Gill? Should her being told that she’s not as important to sit right with her?” The mother raised a hand to her neck, turning to her husband.

“I didn’t say she wasn’t as important.” He turned back to her.

“You never said it.” She murmured softly, breaking down into tears.

“No, it’s going to be alright. She’ll be back after the game, you’ll see.” He hugged her, attempting to comfort her as much as he could.

“Come on, I got some tissues in the office.” Chief Yates showed them to his office.

* * *

“You can see all the windows from here,” the sergeant noted from the parking lot outside the house.

“Someone’s spent a lot of time here,” Gideon added, gazing at the near dozen cigarette butts. “Has it rained since Saturday night?” Reid pulled out his phone, dialling their resident wizard.

_“He who seeks the queen of all knowledge, speak and be recognised.”_

“Garcia, we’re sending you some cigarettes.”

_“Eugh, why not a flesh-eating virus? It’ll be faster and far less painful.”_

“We need some butts rushed to the lab for DNA analysis.”

 _“Oh, Reid, I love it when you say butts._ ” Reid raised an eyebrow. _“Send away, sugar. Bang bang for now.”_

* * *

“Looks like chief Yates won himself a title back in the day. They do like their football,” Hotch remarked walking down the hallway with JJ in the station.

“Trust me, it’s like a religion.”

“Do you think it strange that with three girls missing, nobody’s talking about cancelling tomorrow night’s game?”

“Come on, Hotch, it’s football. They know they can play without girls,” she retorted cynically.

“We just found Brooke’s car,” the chief interrupted, “abandoned.”

* * *

Piper stared back at the house from the parking lot. She vaguely heard something about butts and stalkers behind her. Reid walked up to her, hands shoved in his pockets. She turned to look at him. “Three teenage girls can’t just be plucked up. I mean, despite popular misconceptions, 16-year-old girls can be more mature than most 20-year-old males." Spencer wrinkled her eyebrows at him. "No offence," she managed with an apologetic smile. "I'm just saying they would’ve put up more of a fight.”

“Not if they felt disadvantaged.” She smushed her hands into her pockets

“We know the unsub picked them off one by one, but why? What is it about these three girls, Doc? They’re three regular teenagers, one of them up for an athletic scholarship. They’re best friends. What does the unsub get out of kidnapping them and why does he get them to send messages to their parents?”

“Maybe to throw them off his scent?”

“It doesn’t make sense.” She pushed the hair out of her eyes. “You ever have a gut feeling that you’re missing a piece of the picture?”

“All the time.”

* * *

“It’s covered in dust,” Reid remarked, “so it must have been here for a while.” Bishop ignored the radio chatter in the distance. Morgan leaned into the car, surveying the situation.

“So much for the spontaneous road trip.”

“This isn’t a very travelled area,” Gideon noted.

“Not really.”

“So, the car’s left in town where it would eventually be found,” Morgan observed.

Reid leaned down in the driver’s seat, pulling out a baseball hat. “Gideon, it’s from the football team. It says K. E. on the brim.”

“Could be Kip Engler, the quarterback. He and Brooke were an item.”

“That common knowledge?” Bishop piped up.

“Pretty much, the kids are like celebrities. What, you think he had something to do with this?" 

"Well, it depends. Was he at the pep rally Saturday night?” She asked, stepping closer to the team.

“Yeah, he was the star of it.”

“Then I doubt it.”

“I think we know the kind of person we’re looking for,” Gideon said before he walked off.

Sykes faced Piper.“He does that to people a lot?”

“What, make dramatic statements and then leave? It's his thing.” Piper grinned.

* * *

“Brooke, Kelly and Polly have been missing for 5 days,” Hotch reiterated. “Usually in cases like this, we wouldn’t expect to find them alive. However, in this case, we don’t believe that to be true.”

“The person responsible spent considerable time and energy planning the abduction. He did not do all this work to simply kill the girls once he had them. Otherwise, he would’ve done it at the Chamber’s house,” Morgan continued. “He certainly seemed to know he had the time.

Reid interrupted, "And he had Kelly and Polly reference Friday in the messages they left for their parents.”

“We think the unsub has something planned for the night of your championship game,” Piper revealed, moving her hands from her pocket to crossing them against her chest. "You could look for people who feel slighted by the community."

“We are certain the unsub is someone from this community,” Gideon continued. A balding man just walked in, wearing a plaid shirt paired with a sleeveless jacket.

“How do you know that?” he demanded.

“Mr Chambers, I presume,” Gideon started, “he didn’t have your daughter leave you a phone message or a note, did he?” The father simply shook his head. “We believe it’s because he knew you’d be out of town.”

“Just like he knew the dumpsite for the car would eventually be found. Everything points to him giving himself time,” Hotch went on while Derek nudged JJ.

“Time for what?” the man spit out, clearly scared for what would happen to his daughter.

“I don’t know yet, sir.” Gideon relented.

“Well, what’s being done about it?” He was clearly restraining himself from yelling at the FBI agent. JJ turned and walked over to him.

“Sir, I’m with the FBI,” she said, reaching out to him. “We’re going to need some information.”

“Hold on,” he pushed her hand away, “If someone from this town’s taken my Brooke, I wanna know what’s being done about it.”

“Yes, I know, sir. If you’d just come with me, I will explain everything.” She walked him to another room, leaving the profilers with the officers in the main area.

“Predatory abductors like this unsub are intelligent, patient and cautious. They like to watch everything: the victims, the families, the police,” Reid continued. “He’s surely watching us now and may even attempt to inject himself into our investigation.”

“We also know that predatory abductors prepare a nest, prior to the abduction. A remote cabin, an underground bunker, a secret secure place that only he has access to. Designed to confine and conceal his prey once his hunting is done,” Gideon elaborated.

“Should we be looking for this nest?” Yates asked, straightening up.

“You’d never find it,” Reid answered. “For his nest, predatory abductor John Jemelske built a sophisticated dungeon complex under a suburban Syracuse home, where he documented every detail of the torture he carried out upon the victims he kept there for 3 years.”

Derek got up from her perch against the wall. “The man who kidnapped these girls has a relationship or a job that let him get close enough to watch them.”

Hotch took a few steps closer to the officers. “We have to focus on those people who had access to the girls, a family member, a teacher, a neighbour. It may sound clichéd but often it is the person you least suspect.” He swiveled his head to look at Piper, nodding encouragingly.

"Look for people who are invisible. The unsub might be feeling ignored and neglected, especially if he's trying to draw attention away from the championship game. There's no doubt he's strong, considering he kidnapped 3 athletic girls."

“One more thing to remember,” Gideon persisted. “We’re looking for someone who was not at the pep rally.”

“Ask the community, I’m sure somebody videotaped it. You can go through the tapes, start eliminating townspeople.” Hotch continued. Reid walked away after his phone started ringing. JJ walked back to Gideon and Hotch.

“I’m sorry, sir. Mr Chambers just took off. I don’t know where he went.”

Reid joined them. “Garcia just ran the cigarette butts through CODIS and got a name: Donald Haas?”

“Don Haas is the girls’ soccer coach,” Yates mentioned.

“Was Coach Haas at the pep rally?” Gideon asked.

“I don’t remember seeing him there, no.”

“Where would Coach Haas be right now?”

* * *

“Now, I know we’re all upset about Polly and Brooke and Kelly, but it is important that we keep a positive attitude.” The coach was standing in front of his team of girls. “Those girls, they’d want you to be strong. They’d want your prayers.” He felt a searing pain in his calf and fell to the grass.

“Where’s my daughter, you son of a bitch?” The coach was rolling in the grass, Brooke’s father standing over him with a crowbar. “I get the charges dropped, and this is what you do for me?”

Morgan ran towards the scene, leapt and tackled the man to the ground.

“Take it easy,” he yelled, as the girls ran away. Morgan locked the father in his arms.

“He did it before in Pittsburgh!” Mr Chambers bellowed, “He was arrested, and I got him off. I got you off, you son of a bitch.” A police officer took the father away, placing handcuffs on his wrists. Morgan walked over to Hotch.

“They’re all turning on each other,” the boss warned.

Gideon helped the girls’ coach up.

* * *

Agent Gideon entered the interrogation room. The coach sat, nursing his shoulder.

“What the hell is wrong with Pete, huh? Going crazy like that. Like I had something to do with this. Mind if I smoke?”

“Yes.” The coach dropped the packet on the table and leaned back, hand on his shoulder. “You smoke more than 100’s, Mr Haas?” The coach nodded. “We found 13 Morley 100 cigarette butts with your DNA on them across the street from the Chamber’s house.” Gideon pulled two photos of the butts and a DNA report, placing them on the desk gently.

“This is a mistake. Somebody has made a mistake.”

“You smoke those cigarettes and left something of yourself on them, sir. That’s a fact.”

“Yeah, but I did not leave them there.” The man was growing indignant.

“Can you tell me who did?”

“How the hell should I know?”

* * *

The sergeant dismissed the waste disposal worker outside the Saginaw Motel. Both the sergeant and Morgan walked over to the motel manager.

“Here’s the guest registry,” the manager said, thrusting a maroon coloured registry at the sergeant.

“All right. I’ll get started running these names through the computer,” Sykes said, glancing through the register.

“There’s a name in there, John Sherman, you’re not going to find it in the state computer. He stays here once a month, and he pays me $100 cash over the rate so I’ll look the other way,” the manager adds.

“And you don’t ask for I. D.?” Morgan turned to him, straightening his sunglasses.

“Well, I don’t have to… See, because I know the guy, only his name’s not Sherman. It’s Chambers. Peter Chambers.” The agent and the officer glanced at each other.

* * *

Peter was frustrated. His foot kept tapping, his hands kept twitching.

“He doesn’t look like he’s hiding his daughter.”

“You never really know, Bishop.”

“I get that, Hotch, this guy is keeping a secret. I just don’t think he’s our guy,” she admitted, fingers drumming on the table behind the glass. “You think you can get him to talk?”

“If he thinks it’ll help his daughter, he’ll tell us.” Hotch grabbed the file on the table and entered the interrogation room.

“Don Haas kidnapped my daughter. Why are you wasting time talking to me?”

“He’s being questioned in another room.” Hotch took the other seat. “Tell me why you’re so convinced that it was him.”

“You said it was someone from this community. The only person I know capable of doing something like this is Don.”

“What do you mean, capable?”

“He’s a sex offender.”

“His record is clean.”

“Yeah, well, six years ago, Don called me from Pittsburgh, he’d been arrested for soliciting an underage prostitute.”

“Why did he call you?”

“Because I’m a lawyer. We’d been friends for 30 years. We played football together in high school.”

“So, why did you agree to help him? 'Cause Don swore it was a one-time thing. The guy was going through a divorce, the girl had a record.” Peter cradled his head in his hands. “I made sure that a sex offender could still spend all his working hours around young girls. God, I practically gave him my daughter.”

* * *

Gideon, Hotch, Reid, Bishop and Chief Yates gathered in another interrogation room.

“Chambers represented Haas in a minor sex offence case six years ago, had the record expunged,” the chief announced.

“What kind of sex offence?”

“An underage prostitute," he answered Derek.

“Sounds like the right kind of crime?”

“Could be,” Gideon murmured.

“Well, Haas swears he didn’t put the cigarette butts there,” Hotch provided.

“Does it strike anyone else as grossly inconsistent,” Spencer wondered aloud as JJ walked in, “that an unsub this sophisticated and methodical would leave an obvious pile of his DNA at the crime scene?”

“Don Haas was at the pep rally,” JJ announced. “I saw him in two different videotapes.”

Morgan walked in behind her.“All three of the victims’ soccer jerseys were found behind the motel Peter Chambers has been staying at for the last week.” As the rest of them absorbed the new details, Hotch walked back into the interrogation room with Mr Chambers.

“Don Haas has an alibi for the night your daughter was taken,” he said. “At the exact time the other girls were leaving their scripted messages, he was at the pep rally.”

Mr Chambers sat upright at that. “Oh my god,” he whispered.

“You said you were in Philadelphia on business last week. Sir, I have to ask. Were you in Philadelphia?”

“You think I’d hurt my daughter?”

“We just found the girls’ soccer uniforms behind the Saginaw motel.”

“What?”

“I’ll repeat the question. Were you in Philadelphia on business last weekend?”

“No.”

“Where were you?”

“I was at the Saginaw motel.”

“What were you doing there?”

“I meet a friend there once a month.” He hesitated before continuing, “Actually, he’s more than a friend.”

Hotch sat down.

“Agent, this is a small town. These are small-town people. They’re wonderful in many ways, but there are some things they just don’t understand.”

“I need a name, Mr Chambers.”

“Glenn Donahue. He lives on Rittenhouse Square,” he relented. “With his wife and…” He paused again, perhaps to steel himself. “And his two little boys.”

“Thank you.”

Piper turned back to see Hotch walking into the small, cramped room. With a deep breath, she asked, “So, if they both had alibis, these men are innocent?”

“Unsub planted evidence to implicate them. Forensic countermeasures,” Gideon agreed.

Chief Yates rubbed the back of his neck, facing Gideon. “So, we’ve got no suspects, no reliable evidence, we’ve got nothing.”

“We have the behaviour, the fact of the countermeasures,” he asserted, leaning on the table behind him.

“He tried to implicate Haas and Chambers,” JJ proposed. “That would mean Haas and Chambers had significance to him, right?”

“Who he’s implicated may be as important as who he’s abducted,” Hotch said to no-one in particular.

“He’s been watching them all for a long time,” Gideon continued. “Seething. We need to bring the parents and the people he implicated in. They, along with the girls, are his targets, and it may be the key to finding him before it’s too late.”

* * *

Hotch and JJ had gathered all the parents together.

“This unsub, or unknown subject, is someone you know. He’s someone from your past, and he’s someone who thinks that you have wronged him,” Hotch informed them. “We’d like for you to think about who might fit that description.”

“Don’t you think,” Gill Seymour spat out, “if we knew who we did this or why we would’ve told you?”

“Please, let him talk, Gill,” pleaded Judy.

“Oh, I’m going to take advice from somebody on mental medication?”

“What?”

“Everyone knows, Judy,” Gill’s wife murmured.

“Could we just stay focused, please? The man who took your daughters. He framed Peter Chambers and Don Haas for a reason. This is an attack,” Hotch paused, “on you.”

“I have made mistakes in my life,” Mr Chambers admitted, “but why take it out on Brooke?”

“You know, it’s one thing for Brooke to pay for your mistakes,” Mr Seymour snarled, “but if my daughter has to pay for them too…”

Hotch intervened calmly, “Mr Seymour, that’s not helping,”

“That’s not fair, Gill.” Coach Haas said, not making eye contact and staring at the floor.

“Fair?” Gill stood up, leaning into Donald’s face. “You shut the hell up, you’re nothing but a pervert,” he hissed. “You will never get near the children of this town again,” the father said while being firmly seated by an officer.

Morgan got off from his lean on the wall.“We need to keep this as civil as possible.”

Mr Chambers ignored Morgan, turning to Mr Seymour. “Gill, are you even listening? It wasn’t Don. He had nothing to do with it.”

“You knew he was a deviant, you didn’t tell us. You let him coach our girls.”

“His arrest was a misunderstanding, okay?”

“We talked to the hotel manager, Peter,” Mrs Seymour defended. “We know about you. Maybe this is god’s punishment.” Judy scoffed at that and Piper turned away from the scene, massaging her forehead. She was going to need a cup of tea after this.

“Oh punishment, okay, well. At least I didn’t spend the week my daughter was missing focusing on my son and the damn football game!”

“No, we know what you spent the week doing,” Judy shook her head at Gill’s words.

“I blame myself,” Mrs Seymour agonised, “for ever letting Kelly be friends with Brooke and Polly to begin with. Low breeding always shows through.”

Judy exclaimed, “Low breeding?” Piper scoffed internally. Their kids could be dead, and they were only interested in insulting each other.

“They’re bad seeds. They always have been.”

Judy stood up, slamming her palms on the table. “Don’t talk about my daughter like that, all right?”

“That’s enough!” JJ yelled. She’d had enough of the arguing and screaming. “What is the matter with you people? This is exactly what he wants. He is attacking all of you,” she said, stepping forward calmly. “He is turning all of you against each other, and you’re just letting him do it. Your daughters are best friends, and you all have known each other most of your lives as friends. Don’t let this man beat you this way.” Judy sat back down, closing her eyes.

Gill Seymour started first. “What do you want us to do?”

“Listen to these agents, all right. They came here to help. Let them do that,” JJ said, glancing at Hotch.

He stepped in, “We’re going to split you up, go over your histories, and see if there’s a name from your past in common. Probably won’t be a casual acquaintance. He knows your secrets. Don’t just think people you’ve knowingly wronged. Maybe something you’re not even aware of, or you may have forgotten.”

“Agent Gideon," an officer interrupted. "It’s Penelope Garcia from Quantico. She says it’s urgent.”

 _“Brooke Chamber’s phone just switched back on.”_ The familiar voice leaked through the speaker.

 _“_ Tell me you got a trace.”

_“And a location. Downtown North Mammon, within 100 meters of the intersection of main and first.”_

“That’s right outside.” The sergeant looked at them all from the phone, shock explicit on his face.

Everyone rushed outside, some unlatching their guns just in case. The relief was seen in many, worry in others. The group of agents spread out, hoping the girls were okay. Gideon, Bishop and Hotch ran ahead of them and saw, just past the block, young women staggering towards the station, wrapped in fleece blankets. While Bishop and Gideon rushed towards the young girls, Hotch pulled Morgan aside.

“Keep the parents back, there are only two of them.” Placing his emotions aside, Morgan nodded and herded the parents back into the station.

Piper held Polly close, murmuring, “It’s okay, darling. You’re safe now.” Gripping her gently by the shoulders, her warm brown eyes assessed her for any injuries, looking closely at the blood on her face and her glazed eyes. “She’s in shock and bleeding.”

“It’s not her blood,” murmured Brooke.

Gideon leant to see her face. “Where’s Kelly Seymour?”

* * *

Polly huddled her blanket closer, sipping her water. She could barely see the few agents in front of her. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her best friend’s body, bloody and mangled.

“Let me get you some more water,” Piper said, about to get up.

“I got it,” JJ intervened and walked to the door Morgan was holding open.

Piper knew she had to proceed carefully. “Polly, do you know who did this to you?” When Polly didn’t respond, Piper realised she was still in shock. _Not because they were kidnapped. Because of Kelly._ “Polly, sweetheart, none of this is your fault. We’re here to help.” For the first time, Polly made eye contact. “Let me help you.”

* * *

“Whatever happened,” Gideon spoke softly, “you’re a very brave woman. Not many people can face what you did and make it out the other side.” Morgan sat next to her, elbows on his knees, paying close attention.

Brooke sobbed a little before replying, “It wasn’t Polly’s fault. She didn’t do anything.”

* * *

JJ walked out into the lounge to get Polly another glass of water. The parents got up expectantly. “Nothing’s happened. I’m just getting her a glass of water.”

“Did she say where Kelly is?” Mr Seymour asked.

“Dr Bishop is talking to your daughter now, we’re working on it as hard as possible. We think the girls may be in shock.”

“Agent Jareau, when you said we all grew up together, something struck me.”

“What’s that?”

“We all played football together. Don, Pete, even Chief Yates. We were all on the last championship football team. The championship game is tonight.”

* * *

“Polly, do you know where Kelly is?” Piper asked again softly. She hated this bit of her job. Even though this was exactly what the job was. She knew Polly wouldn’t talk if she just kept repeating the question, but Piper didn’t quite know what to say. She hated to be the one asking a 17-year-old to push past the trauma and answer what most people agree would be a very simple question. So, when JJ walked back in, without the glass of water but with a picture frame, she figured JJ had a way. “Polly, this is Agent Jareau.”

The kind agent took the seat Piper offered. “Hi, Polly, my name is JJ. I grew up in East Allegheny, just right up the road. I was captain of the varsity soccer team, my senior year. It got me a scholarship to Pittsburgh. It was a pretty good school, but it’s not exactly Penn State. I know that’s where you’re going because your mom told me. You know, your mom carried a picture of you all the way up to the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia so that me and these agents here could help find you. And, believe me, she was not leaving until we said we’d come.”

Polly’s lip quivered.

“So, no matter what happened over the past 6 days, this will all be a memory someday. But you will always have a mother that loves you that much.” Polly’s resolve to stay strong broke and a small tear escaped her eyes, tracing a path down to her chin. JJ saw her eyes close and hoped her words were working. Polly made eye contact with JJ, watching her and remembering her mom. “I want to show you a photograph, Polly. I want you to look at the men in the picture and tell me if you see the man that did this to you. Okay?”

Polly nodded.

* * *

“We were so hungry,” sobbed Brooke. “So thirsty, so cold…he didn’t give us a choice.”

“You killed her?” Gideon asked her as softly as he could, without judgement or prejudice.

“I didn’t have any choice. They had already decided to…” She couldn’t say it. “But it wasn’t Polly’s fault. It was him. He said we had to choose.”

Who was he, Brooke? Who made you choose?

“I never saw him.”

* * *

“He made us…” Polly struggled to get the words out. “Choose.”

“Who did?” Polly pointed to a boy sitting in the front row of a football team. “Good job,” JJ praised her, passing the framed photograph to Bishop and Morgan.

“Piper, it’s the guy that found the soccer jerseys. It’s the garbage man.”

“Resentment makes sense now,” she remarked before they left JJ and Polly to go find Hotch.

* * *

“Marcus Younger,” identified Chief Yates, glancing up at Morgan from the photograph.

“Polly just ID’d him,” Morgan told him.

“He was the star of our team.” Yates shook the photograph in his hand. “Blew his knee out in the first quarter of the championship. Lost his full-ride scholarship to Notre Dame.”

“Do you know where he lives?”

“Come on.”

* * *

Sirens filled the streets of North Mammon. They’d finally identified the man they were looking for. Then why were the agents filled with dread? Hotch steeled himself inside the black and white vehicle. He knew what they were going to find. Two bodies, but the wrong one dead.

Morgan and Gideon raced to the front door, pulling their stowed guns out. Morgan charged the door and they entered with the police officers, guns at the ready. The house was cleared quickly, but they’d known he would be somewhere close. No sooner did they realise that a storm cellar was found outside. Officers slammed the doors to the cellar open and Morgan was the first inside. The entrance was clear, but his quick eyes spotted an open hatch. Morgan kicked the door wider and thrust his gun through the hatch. Marcus Younger sat next to Kelly’s body, a mirthless smile painted on his face. Morgan carefully stepped through the hatch, asserting to the rest of the officers that he had him. “Marcus Younger? FBI.”

“I never touched her.” Gideon and Yates slowly entered the room.

“Put your hands where I can see them.” Gideon stowed his gun and Marcus nonchalantly put his hands up.

“I never hurt them.” Gideon pressed his fingers to Kelly’s cold neck.

“Get up, Marcus.”

“I never even came into the room, Jeff. They did this, Brooke and Polly.” Gideon aimed his gun at Younger’s face. But he was unfazed. “All I did was show them who they really are, what they were truly capable of.” Morgan’s face twisted into disgust. “People pretending to be decent.” Yates closed his eyes. “When it came down to it, they,” he paused, as though as to collect his thoughts. Or gloat at the person who he had once considered a friend. “They reacted just the way I knew they would. They turned on each other. Just like when I got hurt,” he whispered. “You all couldn’t wait to run over me, to take my position, to take my life… And to forget all about me.”

“Marcus, I’m not going to ask you again. Get up.” Morgan motioned his gun upwards ever so slightly.

“You don’t know what it’s like, Jeff.” Marcus got up slowly, letting Morgan cuff him. “You all have lives, and I just cleaned up after you. Now, you have to clean up after me.”

“You get him out of here,” Gideon whispered, an edge of anger in his voice.

“Let’s go,” Morgan demanded, leaving Gideon to reflect on the young life lost in front of him.

* * *

Hotch walked past his agents, Morgan dozing off with his headphones still on, Reid leaning against a pillow having forgotten to take off his glasses, Dr Bishop snoring softly with her thumb between the pages of The Bell Jar, Gideon laying across the sofa with a thin blanket. But his communications liaison was wide awake, staring at herself in an old photograph.

“Can’t sleep?”

She dropped the photo on the table. “You can’t imagine the pressures a small town creates. To play, to win, everyone pushing, everyone watching. I hated it.”

“Why did you play?”

“Athletic scholarship was the only way I was getting to college. It was my only way out. Besides, having a thick skin when it comes to pressure, it’s a good thing in this line of work, right?”

“You did exceptional work in the last couple of days.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to be noticed.”

“Yeah. We don’t usually, do we?”

“It’s alright. It’s not why I do it.” JJ carefully pushed her fringe away.

“Have you ever thought about taking the classes, becoming a profiler?”

“No. I admire what you guys do, but I like my role. I like being the person the family can turn to. Being the voice the poor, overworked homicide detective can call when he runs out of leads.”

“Really? I thought everyone wanted to be a profiler.” She smiled.

“Sorry.” Hotch smiled back. JJ pulled a pile of files onto her lap.

“What’s all of that?”

“New cases. I got to figure out where we’re going to next.”

“Hey, wait a minute, we’re the profilers. I thought we made those decisions.”

“Sure you do.” They smiled at each other again, softly, the others slightly snoring through their conversation.

“All right. Well, I gotta find someplace to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” she scoffed. She pulled the picture of her closer, smiling at how different she was to the girl in front of her.

* * *

The doorbell rang and Piper asked Penelope to get it. She stopped pouring the champagne when Penelope shrieked, only to smile at Garcia pulling her chocolate thunder inside.

“Who’d have thought Derek Morgan could clean up so well?” Derek chuckled.

“I wasn’t sure what to bring, but candles smell nice.” Piper put the candles aside and pulled him into a hug.

“Thank you. Please have a glass, but if you spill a single drop on my new rug, I will personally hunt you down.”

While Penelope and Derek talked, well, flirted mostly, a potted plant walked in. “Hyacinths! Spencer, you’re the best!” Piper bounced over.

“Reid, did you bring Piper flowers?” Garcia was confused, pointing to the purple plant. Morgan raised an eyebrow. Reid just frowned at the flowers.

“Potted plants are the 3rd most common housewarming gifts in D.C. and seemed a touch more personal than Morgan’s scented candles.”

“Personal?”

“Well, hyacinth actually comes from-”

“The Greek word 'Hyakinthos’ which is a very poetic word for it, considering its backstory,” she interrupted, placing the small pot on her mantle. “According to Greek mythology, Hyakinthos was a beautiful Spartan prince who was adored by both Apollo, god of archery and the sun, and Zephrys, the god of wind. Hyakinthos chose Apollo over Zephrys and one day the two decided to have a friendly competition of discus. Apollo threw first, with such a strength that the discus slit the clouds in the sky. Hyacinth ran behind it to catch it and impress Apollo.” Spencer watched the rapt attention Penelope and Derek gave her. Even JJ listened from the corner. “Jealous that Hyacinth preferred Apollo, Zephrys blew Apollo’s discus off course to kill Hyacinth. From Hyacinth's spilled blood, Apollo created a flower, the hyacinth.” She hugged Spencer tight. "It’s why it’s my favourite flower.”

Morgan and Garcia just stared at her. “How…on God’s green earth…” Morgan stumbled, “do you know that?” Piper just giggled.

“I just love the smell, looked up the history of it a few times, and my brother can speak Greek.”

“Sorry, we’re late.” Hotch and Gideon just walked in. As she ushered them in, Derek nudged the flustered doctor.

“Guess she can beat you to breath.” Spencer elbowed him. “Hey, do not get poky on me. How’d you know hyacinths was her favourite?”

“I remembered,” he whispered. “from when we talked about Greek mythology. She wouldn’t stop talking about hyacinths and lavender.” They watched the happy consultant welcome JJ and put their gifts away.

Garcia stood on a chair calling people to attention. “’Kay now that everyone’s here, I’mma go through the rules of tonight.”

“There are rules?” Gideon asked.

“Yes, there are rules and now no-one can leave unless they are injured or it is 11 pm.”

“The rules are this; tonight there will be dancing, there will be drinking, there will be the stuffing of faces and the golden rule. No. Work. Talk.”

Piper and Spencer shared a small smile at Penelope’s madness.


End file.
